President Iliana Yotova inspected the base for the new F-16s in “Graf Ignatievo“, where she commented on the American request for the deployment of tanker aircraft at the “Bezmer” airbase, BNT reports.
"It must necessarily go through a decision of the National Assembly, because that is the law. The government is currently implementing the law. I will make a comparison with the previous such note, when I had just taken office as President of the Republic of Bulgaria and the then Minister of Defense, the Chief of Defense and the Ministry of Defense had not even notified me that these tanker aircraft were stationed at Sofia Airport. By the way, in the previous cabinet, the note was never made public, so that we could see what the commitments and demands were towards the Bulgarian state. These planes also stayed at the civil airport in the capital for a long time. It is completely different now. Last week, before the note was received, I was informed of the content of the note, which became clear. The government will refer the issue to the National Assembly. The relevant committee will also meet in just a few hours," Yotova said.
According to her, such a deployment of tanker planes does not make us part of the military actions in Iran.
"Personally, I hope that there will be a ceasefire soon, that the hostilities will not expand. As far as I understand, it will again be tanker planes that will not carry out any actions in Bulgarian airspace. Still, I will wait for the discussion and the decision of the Bulgarian parliament."
Let's see exactly what the demands are outside the context of the note, Yotova pointed out.
The head of state noted that the Bulgarian army needs new aircraft.
"I will still see what the entire air base looks like. We are doing everything possible and I hope that from the next regular budget for 2027, what is needed at least as a minimum will be delivered here for people to work, because this is part of the elite of the Bulgarian army and people on whom our security largely depends, in connection with the conflicts that literally surround us from everywhere. New additions with new aircraft are also needed, according to the military-technical expertise, what Bulgaria needs and our financial capabilities - I believe that solutions will be found as soon as possible."